According to Gharibabadi, the Netherlands has released an Iranian citizen violating sanctions

Kazem Gharibabadi, the international deputy of Iran's Foreign Ministry, stated that Mehdi Kiyasti, who was imprisoned in the Netherlands for circumventing U.S. sanctions, has been released. Gharibabadi wrote on social media platform X on Saturday evening, March 4, that Mehdi Kiyasti 'will return to Iran in a few hours.' He claimed that the U.S. government had requested the extradition of Mehdi Kiyasti, but the Netherlands 'rejected this request' and freed the Iranian citizen. Dutch and American officials have not yet commented on this matter. Hours before this announcement, the foreign ministers of Iran and the Netherlands had a telephone conversation. Kaspar Weldkamp wrote on social media that he discussed topics such as Middle Eastern developments, Iran's nuclear program, and the three islands with Abbas Araghchi. He did not mention Mehdi Kiyasti or the news about his release. It is unclear when Mehdi Kiyasti was arrested in the Netherlands, but in the past three years, Islamic Republic officials have requested his release at least twice. In April 2021, Ali Bagheri, then Secretary of the Human Rights Headquarters of the Judiciary of the Islamic Republic, wrote a letter to the Secretary-General of the European Union, requesting the release of Hamid Nouri and eight other Iranian citizens, including Mehdi Kiyasti, from European prisons. In January 2022, Kazem Gharibabadi, who succeeded Ali Bagheri, demanded 'the swift release' of Mehdi Kiyasti in a meeting with the Dutch ambassador in Tehran, calling him a person who 'was arrested at the request of the U.S. under the false pretext of violating sanctions by the Netherlands.' The prisoners that Islamic Republic officials have sought to release have mainly been those arrested in connection with violating U.S. sanctions against Iran in European countries. In recent years, Iran has repeatedly arrested citizens of European countries and exchanged them with its desired prisoners in Western countries. In one of the latest cases, Cecilia Sala, an Italian journalist who entered Iran with a valid visa, was arrested and imprisoned, and after discussions between officials of the two countries, she was released from prison; Italy released Mohammad Abedini four days later, an Iranian citizen accused of violating arms sanctions who was arrested at the request of the U.S. at Milan Airport in Italy. Western countries and human rights organizations accuse the Islamic Republic of 'hostage-taking' of dual nationals and foreign citizens to gain political and economic concessions.